The New York Times has filed a lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft, accusing them of using the newspaper's articles without permission to train AI chatbots, which in turn provide information to readers. This lawsuit, filed in Manhattan federal court, alleges that OpenAI and Microsoft attempted to "free-ride on The Times's massive investment in its journalism" by using its content to create alternative products that could substitute for The Times and potentially steal its audience.
OpenAI and Microsoft counter this by claiming that their use of copyrighted works to train AI products constitutes "fair use," a legal doctrine allowing the unlicensed use of copyrighted material. Despite this, The Times is not seeking a specific amount of damages but estimates them in the "billions of dollars" and wants the defendants to destroy chatbot models and training sets that incorporate its material.
The lawsuit also highlights broader concerns about the impact of AI on the media industry. It points to instances where OpenAI and Microsoft chatbots provided users with near-verbatim excerpts of Times articles, potentially reducing the perceived need for readers to visit the newspaper's website and affecting its traffic and revenue. The Times' general counsel, Diane Brayton, emphasized in an internal memo that while they recognize the potential of generative AI for journalism, the use of their work to create such tools must come with permission and an agreement that reflects the fair value of the work, as provided by law.
This lawsuit is part of a growing trend where media companies and creators are challenging the use of their work in training AI models. Other notable cases include a class-action lawsuit filed by novelists like David Baldacci and John Grisham against OpenAI and Microsoft, and a lawsuit by comedian Sarah Silverman and other authors against OpenAI and Meta Platforms in San Francisco.
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